This is a renewal application (for AI 09308-03) for research in organic chemistry towards two closely related objectives: 1. Ongoing work directed toward the total syntheses of specific mycolic acids will be continued. The synthetic materials, of assured structure, will be directly compared with the corresponding mycolic acid isolated from tubercle bacillus, with the aim in mind of confirming the proposed structures. Combination of the synthetic mycolic acids with trehalose will furnish synthetic cordfactor, which will also be compared directly with natural cordfactor. The comparison studies, including biological properties, will be performed under the direction of Dr. Edgar Lederer (Paris). 2. A series of conjugate proteins will be prepared, all containing trehalose as hapten. The object is to develop an antigen highly effective in stimulating the production of specific antibodies against cordfactor (against trehalose?), and even better, of nonspecific antibodies against bacterial and viral infections as well as cancer. The nonspecific resistance induced by BCG infection serves as the model here. Various ways of attaching trehalose to protein are planned. The immunochemical studies will be carried out by Dr. Masahiko Kato (Osaka).